Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an air filter element, particularly for use in an air filter of a climate control system of a motor vehicle. Further, the invention relates to an air filter, particularly for use in a climate control system of a motor vehicle.
Description of the Background Art
Climate control systems are used in motor vehicles to heat and/or to cool the air to be supplied to the vehicle interior, so that it is possible to adjust an interior temperature that is pleasant for the occupants. To this end, the climate control system has a housing, the interior of which has air ducts. Air is drawn in from the environment or interior of the motor vehicle with the aid of a fan and cooled by means of an evaporator and/or heated by means of a heating element. The air in this case flows through an air filter, particularly upstream of the evaporator, and is therefore cleaned. Suitable air filter elements are, for example, particle filters, odor filters, or combinations of the two. These filter or absorb particles or odors from the air and are available in a large number of versions. The air filter elements are consumable items and, apart from the initial installation, are also routinely replaced as part of a filter service and thereby inserted in a filter housing. The removal and insertion of the air filter element should occur as easily as possible in terms of installation and without damage to the air filter element or the components surrounding it.
The construction of air filters and the materials used for the production thereof can vary, because the specific requirements imposed on them can depend on various factors such as, for example, the desired filter performance, the arising flow resistance, and the mass of the air flow.
Apart from use in climate control systems, filters are also used to filter particles out of the incoming air for internal combustion engines. Moreover, they are found in vacuum cleaners and numerous other appliances, particularly in devices whose operating method requires the supplying or discharging of air. Corresponding filters are also found in ships and submarines and in buildings, in particular in underground parts of buildings, such as cellars, garages, bunkers, and also in laboratory areas that are to be ventilated separately.
Particularly when an air filter is used to clean air drawn in from the environment of a motor vehicle, the drawn-in air can be mixed with water. The water can be, for example, rainwater, melted snow or ice, and splashing water from the roadbed over which the vehicle travels. Climate control systems in motor vehicles therefore have a water separator that is intended to prevent water from reaching the air filter due to being drawn in by the fan.
Because of structural requirements, particularly the increasingly smaller available installation space, the separated water cannot be collected for a rather long time period in the area of the air filter, but must be taken past the filter cover to a drain.
It is problematic in regard to the known prior art that a suitable water line, which goes past the filter cover, interferes with the taking off and reattaching of the filter cover and the removal and reinsertion of the air filter element for maintenance purposes. In this case, such a water line can be a hose.
This has the disadvantage, in one regard, that the hose must be attached manually in a separate work step and the material costs as well are increased by the use of multiple parts such as, for example, hose clamps.
There is the risk that this hose is bent during the removal and reinsertion of the air filter or air filter element as routinely required for maintenance purposes. The bending of the hose can lead to the hose becoming impenetrable, as a result of which the discharging of the water to be removed is hampered. In addition, there is the risk that the hose is damaged by the bending or clamping and becomes permeable as a result. In order to prevent the bending or clamping of the hose during the removal and reinsertion of the air filter or air filter element, the removal and reinsertion procedure requires a greater degree of attentiveness and takes a relatively long time.
WO 2009/087683 A2 discloses a fresh air duct for a climate control system of a motor vehicle. The fresh air duct has an inlet opening located between the windshield and the engine hood of the motor vehicle and an outlet opening connected to the fan of the climate control system. In this case, the inlet opening of the fresh air duct is smaller than the fan-side outlet opening located at the other end of the fresh air duct. The fresh air duct disposed in this manner has at its outlet opening a nylon net, which prevents insects, particles, or dust from entering the fan of the climate control system. There is an opening in the lowest region of the fresh air duct to allow rainwater to flow out of the fresh air duct. Moreover, the fresh air duct in the area of the fan-side outlet opening has two baffles which overlap in the air stream and prevent the water from passing through the net into the climate control system.
A climate control system with a two-part housing has become known from DE 10 2010 027 813 A1, whereby the housing has a condensate drain and the two housing parts are connected together by a tongue and groove connection. Condensate, forming during the operation of the climate control system by the cooling of air on the surface of a coolant evaporator, can drain off through the condensate drain.
DE 101 51 620 A1 discloses a device for climate control in a motor vehicle with a fresh air supplying device, an air filter with a filter housing and filter cover, as well as a condensate drainage chamber. The filter housing is characterized in that the condensate drainage chamber is connected integrally to the filter housing. The condensate drainage chamber in this case is designed particularly so that a hose for discharging the condensate can be plugged onto a connecting piece disposed on the condensate drainage chamber.